Stiff paper basket



i 1951 e. c. F. BRANDES STIFF PAPER BASKET Filed Dec. 28, 1946 Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STIFF PAPER BASKET :Guenther 0.. F. Brandes, Barrington, Ill.

Application December 28, 1946, Serial No. 718,924

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a stifi paper basket, and method formaking the same.

For some years paper mills have olTered a sheet material made of woven paper that resembles wicker or wicker-Work. In this material, heavy paper cords constitute the warp, see numeral Ii! of Fig. of the drawings, while strips of heavy paper '42 are woven through the cords and constitute the woof. The material as delivered by the paper mills is sold in sheets or in rolls and is comparatively weak or flexible and frays readily. l-leretofore, manufacturers of containers, particularly baskets, clothes hampers and the like, have stitched this material over a selected three-dimensional type frame and then dipped the entire container in a sizing which impregnates the paper and shrinks it. When dry, the paper is very stiff and takes a coat of paint. The 'result is a wickerwork-appearing structure having a strength comparable to that of real wicker. The paper manufacturers offer the sheet material in various designs.

The object of this invention is to build a frameless paper wicker basket. The features of this invention include forming the bodybf the basket on a mandrel, adding stiffening end hoops and assembling the parts by means of stitching or stapling; utilizing a paper border in assembling the basket into final structural form; and then dipping in the sizing so as to contract the paper wicker around the stiff end hoops.

The disclosure illustrates the making of a shallow basket which may be used as a sewing basket. Referringto the drawings:

Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate the steps employed in making applicants container;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through a finished container; and

Fig. 6 is a view taken on the line 66 of Fig 5.

Continuing to refer to the drawings. applicant cuts from a roll of paper wicker a rectangular section l4 and closes the short ends by folding over a piece of ordinary adhesive strip paper, as l6 and I8, see Fig. 6. Returning to Figure 1, the section I4 is then wrapped around a mandrel I!) so that the ends 20 and 22, referring to Fig. 6, overlap along a gap 24 in the mandrel.

A strip of paper border 26 having a length approximating twice the circumference of the basket plus the height of the basket, has its midpoint 28, Figure 1, stapled to the midpoint of the height of the basket by a staple such as 30, see Figure 6. Thereafter the border 26 is stapled in each direction to the overlapped edges of the section [4, until the top and bottom edges of the or a carnival hoop. This hoop e2 rests roughly on the outer edge of the outermost strip of paper I3, see Fig. 5. As a practical matter this stripping of the end one or two members of the woof is not an exact operation because frequently the member it may be under the edge of the hoop at one part of the top and may overlap a little bit as indicated by the numeral i5 in Fig. 5, which also indicates the uppermost member of the woof. The paper is thin and the important thing from the standpoint of appearance is that when viewed from the top, the only part of the wicker that appears to be engaging the outside of the hoop is the projecting warp members. Thereupon the hoop is rested on an anvil 34. The border 26 is turned at right angles and is stapled around the hoop by staples such as '36 until the end 38 reaches the point it) where the end is tucked under the start of the circumferential border and stapled. The result is that the hoop 32 and the beading or border 26 either rest on the uppermost member of the woof or squeezes the uppermost member of the woof between the hoop and the beading so that they cannot be pushed inwardly over the wicker. This is believed to be important in providing the strength which ultimately appears in applicants basket.

Applicant then inserts in one end a stilf hoop 32 which the manufacturer'sells as one of the components of an ordinary embroidery hoop, sometimes called in the trade a carnival hoop. Thereupon the hoop is rested on an anvil 34. The border 25 is turned at right angles and is fastened around the hoop by staples such as 36 until the end 38 reaches the point 48 where the end is tucked under the start of the circumferential border and a final staple driven.

This process is repeated for the other end of the basket, the hoop 42 being inserted and the other end 44 of the border being stitched around it. A cardboard or thin wood board bottom 46 is next inserted by simply springing the hoop 42 out of shape. An alternative method of mounting the bottom is to fasten the bottom by some suitable means such as staples 41, see Fig. 5, to

the hoop 42 before assembling into the basket. The diameter of the bottom may be slightly smaller than that of the hoop or of exactly the same size. Here, again, either the one or the bottom two members of the woof may be stripped so that the heading will rest upon the bottommost member of the Woof or will squeeze the bottommost member of the woof against the hoop.

The hoops 32 and 42 give substantial rigidity at the ends but the paper wicker is so floppy that at this stage in the construction one can grasp the hoop 32 and turn it clockwise while turning hoop 42 counterclockwise.

The next step is to dip the floppy container into a sizing and stiffening fluid, as illustrated in Fig. 3. Thereafter, as the sizing dries, the paper wicker at the end shrinks slightly on the hoops and with the added structural strength provided by the sizing, there is produced a basket of surprising rigidity. The basket has no vertical frame members. In order to prevent deterioration of the sizing structure, due to moisture or any kind of wetting, the basket is then given a heavy coating of paint by any suitable process.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be noted that the hoop 42 spaces the bottom 46 from the lower edge 48 of the container. This is very desirable from an appearance standpoint. The container has a finished look and suggests superior workmanship over a container in which a solid bottom piece such as 48 is substituted at the position of the hoop 42.

While applicants invention relates primarily to the use of hoops and the manner of applying the bead thereto, it will be appreciated that a circular cross section is not essential. An oval cross section may be used or even a rectangular or square cross section where the corners are curved on substantially long radii.

Having thus disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. A container comprising a section of sheet material having two opposite edges positioned adjacent each other to form a seam in a sleeve, a single strip of beading having its central portion fastened to both edges of the sleeve seam, a hoop positioned inside one end of the sleeve, one free end of the beading encircling the end of the sleeve and hoop and fastened to both, a bottom positioned in the other end of the sleeve, and J9 the other end of the beading encircling that end of the sleeve and the bottom and fastened to both. 2. A paper wicker container comprising a rectangular section of paper wicker having two opposite edges positioned adjacent each other to form a seam in a sleeve, a single strip of flexible, paper beading having its central portion fastened to both edges of the sleeve seam, a hoop positioned inside one end of the sleeve, one free end of the beading encircling the end of the sleeve and hoop and fastened to both, a bottom positioned in the other end of the sleeve, the other end of the beading encircling that end of the sleeve and the bottom and fastened to both, and a stiifening sizing covering all surfaces of the container.

3. A container comprising a section of sheet material having two opposite edges positioned in overlapping relationship to form a scam in a sleeve, a single strip of beading having its central portion stapled to the adjacent edges of the sleeve seam, a hoop positioned inside one end of the sleeve, one free end of the beading encircling the end of the sleeve and hoop and fastened to both, a bottom positioned in the other end of the sleeve, and the other end of the heading encircling that end of the sleeve and the bottom and fastened to both.

4. A paper wicker container comprising a rectangular section of paper wicker having two opposite edges positioned in overlapping relationship to form a seam in a sleeve, a single strip of flexible, paper beading having its central section stapled to both edges of the sleeve seam, a hoop positioned inside one end of the sleeve, one free end of the beading encircling the end of the sleeve and hoop and fastened to both, a bottom positioned in the other end of the sleeve, the other end of the beading encircling that end of the sleeve and the bottom and fastened to both, and a stiffening sizing covering all surfaces of the container.

GUENTI-IER C. F. BRANDES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re.12,676 Ryan July 23, 1907 83,459 Carpenter Oct. 27, 1868 606,798 Biggs, Jr July 5, 1898 1,936,393 Hogue Nov. 21, 1933 2,418,367 Pulvers Apr. 1, 194.7 

